In September John and I heard about a local Renaissance festival happening for the first time. We’d never been to one so we decided to go and take the kids.

We started by exploring a pirate ship.

Then we watched an archery demo.

The bird demo was next. It was interesting to learn about how birds were used for hunting by kings and nobles.

Here’s a hawk…

…an owl…

…and a red eagle.

We took the kids to a calligraphy station where they got to color…

…and we had Wesley’s name written by a real calligrapher.

And what would a Renaissance festival be without funnel cake or sword fighting?

We had fun, and there were lots of things we didn’t even get to, like puppet shows and a Shakespearean performance. Maybe we’ll go back next year, too.

Here’s everything I neglected to blog about in a more timely manner from July.

Our wedding anniversary. Our marriage is 10 years old. To celebrate we got a sitter and went to a free heritage days celebration that included interesting displays from the Pilgrim days and presenters demonstrating the work of colonial bakers and blacksmiths. It was actually really fun. And so NICE to be out without children. Good thing, too, because they would’ve been jealous of this:

My dad’s side of the family had a reunion near enough that we attended.

The kids loved the pinata. Not the candy so much as the hitting.

Cousins Carissa and Ashley.

My sister, brother, and me with some kids.

Girl cousins.

Wes went to preschool four days a week for about 2.5 hours in the morning. This was his aide assigned to give him a little extra help.

And while he was in school Carissa and I did motherly-daughterly bonding activities like drinking frozen hot chocolate at the mall.

One day I found that Wes had scribbled on the table. But when I looked up close and saw how nicely he had written the letter “W” over and over again, I couldn’t be mad.

The kids are joined at the hip, sometimes…

Playing in the sink.

In the sandbox.

In the wading pool.

Eating ice cream.

And apples.

Making a birthday card for their grandpa.

And getting messy doing it.

Eating breakfast on the couch.

Wes likes to put toys or DVDS (which I have since hidden) on the treadmill (which is unplugged) and push them down the conveyer belt, go to the other side, pick up, and repeat.

He also likes to build tall towers, but sometimes he likes to line up the blocks instead.

He is a climber.

Carissa loves her teddy bear.

She’s also a pretty good shopping companion.

She is a painter.

This is her favorite place to sit–on the back steps.

Picture time.

One day I took them swimming. I don’t have pictures of the pool, but of them enjoying their post-swim milkshakes in the car.

We had a church party in the canyon that involved playing football…

…and wading in the stream. Which I wasn’t willing to do, but a kind neighbor was.

About five seconds after we left, this was the kids:

Our grass mysteriously died in patches while we were on vacation in the spring. John miraculously brought it back to life after careful reseeding and diligent watering. Another reason I’m grateful for a husband; if it were up to me, the grass would’ve just died and that would’ve been that.

Park morning with cousins.

“Airplane!”

We took the kids to a Taste of the Valley event. Here’s us leaving.

And I took the kids to a small local parade. To say they loved every second is an understatement. Wes loved yelling “hi” to the floats, Carissa loved grabbing as much candy as she could, and Wes loved throwing the candy right back at the throwers.

Today I needed a break from the house. We’ve been working on potty training all week, which means we’ve been fairly homebound. Funny thing that a “break” for me entails taking the kids and doing something that they might enjoy. But at least we got out of the house.

I took them to Farm Country at Thanksgiving Point. It was our first time. Wes was pretty brave but Carissa was more timid about getting too close to the animals.

She was brave enough to touch the cow a few times.

They liked the duck pond. Wes spent most of the time tossing gravel at to the ducks. Carissa spent a bit of time watching the little birds land near her on the bench and fly away again.

Two kids and two kids.

They brought a miniature donkey out for kids to pet. Wes was more than willing to help by holding the lead rope. Carissa wouldn’t go near the donkey.

Wesley’s admission included a pony ride. He loved it and I had to use some serious persuasion skills to pull him away from there when it was over. We also got a wagon ride around the property that both kids liked.

After an hour or more I dragged them inside to wash up. Once Wes discovered that you turn the water on by stepping on a bar near the floor he was happy to stay there all day and play in the water.

It was lunchtime but I bought the kids suckers that Carissa picked out. She likes suckers; Wes not so much, but he took a few licks anyway. They were the kind that turn the tongue colors.

On the way home.

Every year in January I start looking forward to attending the Parade of Homes in June. It’s where home builders showcase some new homes that you can visit and walk through. I’ve gone every year for the last five or so years. Each year gets a little more challenging to attend as I add children and they get older.

This year I got to go a few times, sometimes with both kids (challenging, especially with Wes), once with just Carissa (blessedly easy compared to having both kids), and even once by myself (wow!!).

I had my camera the night it was me and Carissa. She is a fun little girl to hang out with. Because it was just me and her, and I didn’t have to keep a hand on Wes to keep him from running off or touching things or slipping under the barrier tape, we had time to slow down and enjoy each house we visited.

We saw some nifty things, like this live plant mural on the wall inside an ultra-mod house.

The same house had a rooftop deck with amazing valley views. We hung out here for a while, enjoying the warm breeze and soft pillows.

Another gorgeous house we walked through was very child-friendly. Carissa saw this reading nook and made herself right at home.

She’s really into trucks, motorcycles, cars, and buses, so this book she found was hard to drag her away from.

Visiting new, sparkly, innovative homes is fun. But sometimes after seeing such amazing houses it makes the sparse white box you live in feel a tad inadequate. Look at these two kid’s rooms. Somehow Wesley’s bare walls and unadorned bed seem kind of sad. At least he doesn’t care.

This morning I took both kids to the pediatrician’s office. It was Carissa’s 15-month checkup, and the doctor needed to make sure Wesley’s ear infection was better.

Since Carissa’s forehead had a run-in with a metal rod a couple weeks ago and she had to get stitches in the ER, she’s been super-extra clingy to me, and as soon as we walked into the exam room and the nurse wanted to touch her, she was NOT happy. I think she was flashing back to her ER experience.

The good and problematic thing about Wes is that he’s so sympathetic to other people’s feelings. When someone else is upset, he is upset. Therefore, when Carissa is screaming her head off Wes tends to follow suit.

The nurse was great and tried to get through everything as fast as possible. The downside is that some of her measurements were clearly off and the doctor had to do them again (head circumference jumped from 45th at 12 months to 95th percentile…he remeasured and it was the 56th percentile).

She’s doing fine. She’s nearly 21 pounds and about 30 inches tall (that’s one of the measurements that we’re not sure about).

We talked about Carissa’s apparent allergy to nuts (she’s gotten hives around her mouth the two times she’s eaten peanut butter and one other time I cut her food with the same knife I used for hazelnut spread). We’ll be getting in touch with an allergist. But, boy, Carissa getting pricked by nurses doesn’t sound like a good time.

After we finished at the doctor’s (Carissa topped off her experience with three shots in the legs) I took the kids to IKEA. It was a gift to myself.

I had a specific mission in mind: a toddler size table for the kids. We already have four toddler size chairs that we got for free a while ago. I’ve looked elsewhere for tables and knew that IKEA’s prices were very good.

John and I went to IKEA once in San Francisco while on vacation with his family. This was long before we had kids, and we weren’t looking for anything. So I wasn’t really into it.

Today, walking into IKEA, I was a little blown away. It’s the most family friendly store I’ve ever visited.

They got me first with the family restroom right up front that’s big enough for you to take in your whole cart, a child-size sink, complimentary diapers if you forget yours, and a comfy chair for nursing. Not even Babies R Us is so nice.

Then it was the giant elevator that takes you to the second floor showroom that was big enough to fit probably four or five moms with their carts, kids, strollers, and purchases comfortably.

Then it was the children’s IKEA section full of gorgeous little lamps, rugs, toys, storage, and, yes, tables that are not only cute but affordable. I found a two-pack of artist smocks for Wes and Carissa for $5 and a two-pack of big plastic bibs for Carissa for even less than that. Then I picked out the table I wanted, wrote the product number on the “shopping list” printed on the back of the store map (which is ESSENTIAL), and moved on.

We ate lunch at the IKEA cafeteria-style restaurant. I got Wes a kid’s meal for $2.49 and got Carissa some baby food (!!! Who else thinks to sell baby food in the cafeteria? Genius). We ate by a window overlooking the parking lot and busy freeway.

Wes loved his french fries and juice and watching people and cars outside.

Carissa liked her food, too.

The food was pretty good, but it didn’t hold a candle to the food in the Provo LDS Temple’s cafeteria. I’d eat there every day.

We went downstairs to the Marketplace, which is less of a showroom and more of a regular store setup. I walked into the kitchen section and I might have drooled a little. It was fun to walk through. I only bought one thing that cost 99 cents, but I sure thought about more.

We strolled through the rest of the place and ended up in the warehouse part where you go find the product you want to buy. It’s easy to locate the aisle and bin number. The box was so well packed and light that it fit easily under my cart. The checkout is a self-checkout (that actually works, not like Wal-Mart’s). And then, ta-dah! we were done.

The only thing left to do was get the free frozen yogurt cone that we had a coupon for at the Bistro by the exit.

Wes ate it all.

And I mean ALL.

IKEA, IKEA, what a wonderful place.

Autumn is in full swing, but today was as beautiful and warm as if it were mid-June. I met up with my friend Marcy and her son Marshall, and we took our kids to the zoo.

It was a lovely day.

Wes rode the carousel (on the rhino, or “eye-no”, as he says).

Mostly, he liked to look up at the turning mechanism that makes the rhino go up and down.

We enjoyed seeing all the animals…

…like the elephants (see the baby elephant?)…

…and giraffes.

After the giraffes, there is a steep hill to climb, made all the steeper when pushing a double stroller loaded with 50+ lbs of kids and accessories. But it was worth it. This stretch of road was actually my favorite in all the zoo because it was high enough that you felt like you were hiking in the mountains. And, I guess, we practically were.

I also like the expression on the kids’ faces, although I’m not sure what they were thinking when I snapped this.

Us with our friends Marcy and Marshall!